Sealing strip

ABSTRACT

An elongated, tubular, sealing strip or member of resilient, flexible elastomeric material such as neoprene is provided with a top wall having a central portion formed as a V with a wide angle between the arms, and a pair of main reinforcing webs extending longitudinally within said tubular strip and respectively extending diagonally from the top wall of said strip adjacent one side edge thereof to the bottom wall of the strip adjacent the opposite side wall of the strip. Said reinforcing webs intersect and are joined together substantially at the intersection of an imaginary vertical plane equidistant from the side walls and an imaginary horizontal plane cutting the side walls at approximately their midpoints. Additional supplementary, reinforcing webs extend diagonally from approximately the midpoints of the side walls normal to the lower portions of the main webs.

United States Patent Bowman 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 1 SEALING STRIP PrimaryExaminer-Nile C; Byers, Jr. [75] Inventor: Thomas C. Bowman, Buffalo,NY. AmmeyAShlan Harlan [73] Assignee: Watson-Bowman Associates, Inc.,[57] ABSTRACT Buffalo An elongated, tubular, sealing strip or member ofresil- [22] Filed; Mar, 25, 1971 ient, flexible elastomeric materialsuch as neoprene is provided with a top wall having a central portion[21] Appl' l280l9 formed as a V with a wide angle between the arms, and[30] F i Appliction priority Data a pair of main reinforcing websextending longitudinally within said tubular strip and respectivelyextend- Aug. 20, 1970 Australia ..2263/70 g diagonally from the P Wallof Said Strip odioeent Aug. 20, 1970 Australia ..2265/70 one Side edgethereof to the bottom Wall of the Strip jacent the opposite side wall ofthe strip. Said reinforc- [52] U.S. Cl. 404/64 g Webs intersect and arejoined together substantially [51] Int. Cl. Eol 11/10 at theintersection of an imaginary vertical plane equi- [58] Field of Search94/18, 18.2 distant from the side walls and an imaginary horizontalplane cutting the side walls at approximately their mid- ReferenceSClled points. Additional supplementary, reinforcing webs ex- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS tend diagonally from approximately the midpoints of3,276,336 10 1966 Crone 94/18 the Side walls normal the lower Portions"lain 3,608,442 9 1971 Berch'ou. 94/18 Webs- 3.595,141 7/1971 Boney94/18 3,485,149 12 1969 Boney 94/18 Clams 6 Drawmg figures 3,585,9106/1971 Brown 94/18 3,645,176 2/1972 Berchom 94/18 SEALING STRIPBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the sealing ofjoints and is particularly concerned with the provision of a sealingstrip to be used in pavement joints.

It has been found that expansion joints must be provided in concretepavements and other extensive or massive concrete structures to allowexpansion and contraction of the structure under varying temperatureconditions without buckling or cracking. Such joints are formed, in aconcrete pavement for example, as grooves molded between adjacentsections of pavement or as slots cut transversely at intervals along thelength of the pavement. These grooves or slots must be sealed to preventaccumulation of dirt therein which would interfere with their functionand to prevent the entrance of water which in cold weather may, infreezing, cause damage to the abutting pavement sections. It was longthe practice to fill the grooves or slots with a caulking compound or ahardening liquid filler which was soft enough to yield when expansionoccurred in the pavement. However, in general, such materials werefailures because they lost their resiliency or flexibility in coldweather so that they cracked or pulled away from the sides of the grooveor slot allowing entrance of water and consequent damage to thepavement. Attempts have been made to replace these sealing compoundswith preformed, resilient elastomer sealing strips which are inserted inthe joint and maintain a sealing relationship at all times. There havebeen many designs for such strips but few of these designs have beensatisfactory since when they are subjected to stresses there is atendency with many seals for the top edges of the side walls thereof torotate or shift away from the adjacent faces of the pavement sections.Also, in some cases the sealing strip under compression in use shiftsbecause of improper design and it may develop bulges that exert torqueon the strip. If lighter construction is used to avoid such bulging, theresilient force necessary to maintain a good seal may not be obtainable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The novel sealing strip of the presentinvention is advantageous because its design permits folding of theinternal webs under compression without interference so that there is nobulging, because the internal reinforcing webs therein are so arrangedas to maintain equalized support for the side walls during expansion andcompression of the strip, and because it has a top wall which does notbulge or rise under compression so that there will be no chance for itto be affected by traffic passing thereover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of asealing strip manufactured according to the present invention, with nostress applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the sealing strip shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view of a pavement jointemploying a sealing strip according to the present invention, thesealing strip being shown under compression;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but with the sealing strip shownunder greater compression; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views similar to FIG. 1 but illustratingmodifications.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT From the drawings it will beunderstood that the novel sealing strip shown in FIGS. 1 4, inclusive,and comprehensively identified by the numeral. 11, is an elongated andessentially hollow, tubular member. It comprises a generally horizontaltop wall 13, vertical side walls 15 and 17, which at their upper edgesare attached to the edges of the top wall 13, and a bottom wall 19attached to the lower edges of the side walls 15 and 17. Preferably, thesealing strip is formed by extrusion, according to known procedures, ofa suitable elastomer. Consequently, it may vary in length as desired,but is generally made in long lengths, often of many hundreds of feet,and cut, in installation, to shorter lengths as necessary to fit thejoints. The terms upper, lower, top, bottom, right, left, down, up, andsimilar terms of position or direction as used hereinafter, refer to theillustration in FIG. 1, but they are used only for convenience ofdescription and should not be construed as limiting the scope of thepresent invention or as implying a necessary positioning of thestructure or portions thereof. Within the hollow, elongated bodydescribed above there are disposed elongated reinforcing webs or struts,as hereinafter described, to maintain the shape of the sealing strip andprovide controlled resistance to horizontal compression thereof such aswill occur in use. The top wall 13 of the strip is symmetricallongitudinally along its center line, each lateral half thereofcomprising a border 23 extending inwardly from the side edge of the wall13 normal to the adjacent one of the side walls 15 and 17 for a distanceequal to approximately one-quarter of the total width of the top walland an inner portion 15 inclined slightly downwardly, preferably at anangle of from about 5 to about 20. Thus, in cross-section the centralportion of the top wall 13 is in the shape of a downwardly pointed Vwith a large angle, preferably about to about of opening.

Extending diagonally inside the strip 11 from the border portions 23 ofthe top wall to the bottom wall 19 immediately adjacent the oppositeside walls are a pair of main reinforcing webs 29, these websintersecting and being joined together substantially at the intersection31 of an imaginary vertical plane equi-distant from the sides of thestrip 11 and an imaginary horizontal plane cutting the side walls 15 and17 at approximately their midpoints. The ends of these diagonal webs areintegrally attached to the top and bottom walls of the sealing stripadjacent to the side walls but spaced inwardly therefrom sufficiently tocontrol movement of the strip side walls and to prevent buckling thereofas pressure is applied to the sides of the strip. The desired spacingwill to some extent vary with the cross section of the strip.

Additional supplementary reinforcing webs or struts 33 extend diagonallyin the strip 13 from approximately the midpoints of the side walls 15and 17 to approximately the midpoints of the lower portions '35 of themain struts 29, being normal to said main struts or webs at the pointsof intersection therewith. All of the reinforcing webs extendlongitudinally throughout the length of the strip 11 and are integralwith each other and with the top, bottom, and side walls of the memberThe extent or degree of curvature may be varied, as.

hereinafter explained, to provide variation in the resistance of thestrip to horizontal compression.

In FIG. 3 a sealing strip 11 according to the invention is shown inplace between the end faces 40 of two concrete slabs 39 constituting aportion of a roadway or pavement, the strip being under partialcompression as it would be when the slabs 39 are contracted as in coldweather. As will be observed, the central portion of top wall 13 hasbeen depressed to form a deeper trough but the inner portions 25 of thetop wall still exert pressure on the top edges of the side walls 15 andl7,thus preventing said edges from inward movement that might destroysealing engagement with the slabs 39.

In FIG. 4, which is similar to FIG. 3, a sealing strip 11 is shown underfurther compression, such as would be obtained when the slabs areexpanded in summer. It

will be noted that even under this considerable compression, the topwall 13 of the sealing strip does not bulge above the pavement surfaceand that the side walls 15 and 17 of the strip are pressed against theopposing faces 40 of the slabs without vertical displacement of saidwalls. As will be seen in FIG. 4, the webs 33 do not bulge ascompression is applied, but fold so that the main webs are supported andexert pressure to maintain the seal in place.

In installing the novel sealing strip of the present invention in apavement joint, conventional practice can be employed. Briefly, acoating of a suitable adhesive, which also serves as a lubricant duringinstallation ofthe seal, is applied to each of the end faces of theadjacent concrete slabs and/or the sides 15 and 17. Then, preferably byuse of a suitable machine such as are commerically available, thesealing strip is compressed laterally and pushed down in the slotbetween the slabs. The strips or seals are customarily supplied in longrolls which are carried by the machine and fed into the joint as themachine advances along the length of the joint.

The extent to which the sealing strip is compressed during installationwill vary according to the width of the joint and the extent to whichthe slabs 39 are expanded. The latter, of course, depends upon thetemperature of the slabs and the coefficient of thermal expansionthereof. In general, to ensure good results, the compression of thestrip as installed should be a minimum of about 20 percent. It should beunderstood that sealing strips according to the present invention maybe, as is customary, made in a variety of sizes. Thus, the compressionnecessary to ensure continued proper sealing between slabs will beattainable regardless of the spacing between the slabs.

While the sealing strip illustrated in FIG. 1 has a convex bottom wall19, it will be understood that the curvature of the wall 19 may beincreased or decreased, or even reversed, within the scope of thepresent invention. This is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 5 thestructure is identical with that shown in FIG. 1 except that the bottomwall 19 of the sealing strip is substan tially straight. The result ofsuch construction is to put slightly more pressure against the sidewalls 15 and 17 at the lower ends thereof when the strip is in place,thereby holding the strip more tightly against displacement.

In FIG. 6 the structure is identical with that shown in FIG. 1 exceptthat the bottom wall 19" of the sealing strip is slightly concave andthe side walls 15' and 17 are provided on their exterior faces with aplurality of longitudinally extending parallel ribs 42. The concavebottom wall permits application of still more stabilizing force againstthe side walls as the strip is compressed. The ribs 42 on the side wallsserve to trap or collect adhesive in the intervening grooves to assistin providing a water-tight seal. It will be understood that the employment of such ribbed side walls is a matter of choice depending uponthe materials used and the conditions of use and that such walls may beused with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, if desired.

Although sealing strips in accordance with the present invention may beconstructed of a number of flexible, resilient, elastomeric materials,it is preferred to employ strips formed of a neoprene composition whichretains its flexibility and resilience throughout a wide temperaturerange. Such materials are available in commerce and may be readilyextruded as-tubing having the novel structure hereinabove described. Theadhesive-lubricant composition used is preferably air setting andshould, of course, bond well with both the concrete slabs and thesealing strip employed. Adhesives suitable for such purpose are wellknown.

It is evident that the present novel sealing strip is useful andefficientsince it maintains a sealing relation between adjoining bodiesat various stages of compression and is not easily displaced. Theworking life of the strip will be prolonged, even under severe workingconditions because of the controlled folding of the webs and the webstress control characteristic of the design. It will be understood thatsuch sealing strips may be employed not only in sealing joints inpavements, bridges, and the like, but also in buildings, piers, andother concrete or masonry structures.

It will be understood that the foregoing specific description and theaccompanying drawings are merely exemplary of the present invention andthat various modifications and alterations in the sturctures shown anddescribed may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A flexible, resilient, sealing strip adaptd for sealing a slotbetween adjacent faces of rigid bodies and maintaining a sealingrelation during changes in width of said slot resulting from expansionand contraction of said bodies which comprises: an elongated, tubularmember having spaced side walls that are approximately straight andparallel; a top wall joining the upper edges of said side walls, saidtop wall having edge portions substantially normal to said side wallsand an inner, central portion having in cross-section a downwardlypointed V-shape; a bottom wall joining the lower edges of said sidewalls; a pair of elongated ,intersecting, main reinforcing webs withinsaid tubular member, each of said main webs extending diagonally fromone of said normal portions of said top wall to said bottom walladjacent the opposite side wall and intersecting substantially at theintersection of a vertical plane equidistant from the side walls of saidstrip and a horizontal plane cutting said side walls at their midpoints;and a pairof elongated supplementary reinforcing webs within saidtubular member, each of said supplementary webs extending diagonallydownward from an intermediate point on one of said side walls to theadjacent main web only, said strip being free from webs in the spacebetween said main webs and below the intersection of said main webs.

2. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 1 in which said walls and saidreinforcing webs are integral and said reinforcing webs extendthroughout the length of said strip.

3. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which each of saidsupplementary webs is normal to said adjacent main web.

4. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which said main webs joinsaid bottom wall immediately adjacent said side walls.

5. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which the angle of the Vof said central portion of said top wall is between about 140 and about170.

6. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 in which said bottom wall isconvex.

7. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 in which said bottom wall isstraight and substantially normal to said side walls.

8. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 in which said bottom wall isconcave.

9. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which said bottom wall isconvex.

10. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which said bottom wall isstraight and substantially normal to said side walls.

1 l. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which said bottom wallis concave.

12. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 9 in which the angle of the Vof said central portion of said top wall is between about and about 13.A sealing strip as set forth in claim 10 in which the angle of the V ofsaid central portion of said top wall is between about 140 and about170.

14. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 11 in which the angle of the Vof said central portion of said top wall is between about 140 and about170.

15. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall isconvex.

16. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall isstraight and substantially normal to said side walls.

17. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall isconcave.

1. A flexible, resilient, sealing strip adaptd for sealing a slotbetween adjacent faces of rigid bodies and maintaining a sealingrelation during changes in width of said slot resulting from expansionand contraction of said bodies which comprises: an elongated, tubularmember having spaced side walls that are approximately straight andparallel; a top wall joining the upper edges of said side walls, saidtop wall having edge portions substantially normal to said side wallsand an inner, central portion having in cross-section a downwardlypointed V-shape; a bottom wall joining the lower edges of said sidewalls; a pair of elongated ,intersecting, main reinforcing webs withinsaid tubular member, each of said main webs extending diagonally fromone of said normal portions of said top wall to said bottom walladjacent the opposite side wall and intersecting substantially at theintersection of a vertical plane equidistant from the side walls of saidstrip and a horizontal plane cutting said side walls at theirmid-points; and a pair of elongated supplementary reinforcing webswithin said tubular member, each of said supplementary webs extendingdiagonally downward from an intermediate point on one of said side wallsto the adjacent main web only, said strip being free from webs in thespace between said main webs and below the intersection of said mainwebs.
 2. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 1 in which said walls andsaid reinforcing webs are integral and said reinforcing webs extendthroughout the length of said strip.
 3. A sealing strip as set forth inclaim 2 in which each of said supplementary webs is normal to saidadjacent main web.
 4. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in whichsaid main webs join said bottom wall immediately adjacent said sidewalls.
 5. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which the angle ofthe V of said central portion of said top wall is between about 140* andabout 170*.
 6. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 in which saidbottom wall is convex.
 7. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 inwhich said bottom wall is strAight and substantially normal to said sidewalls.
 8. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 4 in which said bottomwall is concave.
 9. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in whichsaid bottom wall is convex.
 10. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2in which said bottom wall is straight and substantially normal to saidside walls.
 11. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 2 in which saidbottom wall is concave.
 12. A sealing strip as set forth in claim 9 inwhich the angle of the V of said central portion of said top wall isbetween about 140* and about 170*.
 13. A sealing strip as set forth inclaim 10 in which the angle of the V of said central portion of said topwall is between about 140* and about 170*.
 14. A sealing strip as setforth in claim 11 in which the angle of the V of said central portion ofsaid top wall is between about 140* and about 170*.
 15. A sealing stripas set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall is convex.
 16. Asealing strip as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall isstraight and substantially normal to said side walls.
 17. A sealingstrip as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall is concave.